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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries, Word
Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament. |
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AN
OUTLINE OF EZEKIEL 16
An Allegory of Unfaithful Jerusalem (NIV)
God's Unfaithful Bride (NET)
God's Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem (NASB)
Jerusalem the Unfaithful (Good News Bible) |
|
Ezekiel 16:1-14 |
The Lord's
Loving kindnesses to
Jerusalem |
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Ezekiel 16:15-34 |
Unfaithful Jerusalem's Harlotry |
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Ezekiel 16:35-50 |
God's Judgment on
Jerusalem |
|
Ezekiel 16:51-63 |
Sodom & Samaria Will be
Restored (53-58) (GNB)
Jerusalem Will Be Ashamed (53-58) (CEV)
Covenant that Lasts Forever (59-63) (GNB) |
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Ezekiel 16:15 But you
trusted in your
beauty and
played the
harlot
because of your
fame, and you
poured out your
harlotries on
every
passer-by who might be willing
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Amplified: But you trusted in and relied on your own beauty and were unfaithful to God
and played the harlot [in idolatry] because of your renown, and you poured out
your fornications upon anyone who passed by [as you worshiped the idols of every
nation which prevailed over you] and your beauty was his. (Amplified
Bible - Lockman) |
|
But you trusted in your beauty
(Ezekiel
33:13;
Dt 32:15;
Is 48:1;
Jer 7:4;
Mic 3:11;
Zeph 3:11;
Mt 3:9) (See Torrey's Topic
Ingratitude to God)
What was the root
(problem) which led to the abominable conduct of harlotry? Israel
trusted in her beauty and her fame. In sum, she became proud.
They did not trust God but in what He had by grace made them. Pride preceded
their fall as it always does.
Solomon (who sadly seemed to
fall prey to this root sin also) wrote
When
pride (arrogance, insolence, presumption, an attitude of the
heart which deceives the one who is proud) comes, then comes dishonor
(confusion, ignominy, reproach, shame), but with the humble
(modest, showing lack of pretentiousness) is wisdom (ability to see
something from God’s viewpoint). (Pr 11:2)
He also wrote that
Pride (arrogance as overbearing conceit,
or the boastful assertion of more than one has a right to) goes before
destruction, and a haughty (viewing one as having "high" or
majestic status) spirit before stumbling (tottering, calamity,
disaster). (Pr 16:18)
A man's
pride (arrogance, haughtiness, highness, swelling) will
bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor. (Pr 29:23)
played
the harlot because of your fame (Ezekiel
20:8;
23:3,8,11,12-21;
Ex32:6-35;
Nu 25:1,2;
Jdg 2:12;
3:6;
10:6;
1Ki 11:5;
12:28;
2Ki 17:7;
21:3;
Ps 106:35;
Isa 1:21;
57:8;
Jer 2:20;
Jer 3:1;
7:4;
Ho 1:2;
4:10;
Rev 17:5)
The Treasury of
Scriptural Knowledge note on this verse says that...
Raised from the most abject state to
dignity and splendour by Jehovah, Israel became proud of her numbers,
riches, strength, and reputation, forgetting that it was "through his
comeliness which He had put upon them;" and thus departing from God, made
alliances with heathen nations, and worshipped their idols. (Comment:
Anything and everything we have that is good is from the Father of lights
and it behooves all God's children to frequently recall this truth to mind,
lest we begin to think that it is because of our efforts alone that success
or wealth have come our way! Ingratitude is sin. We need to constantly
recall that God provides all we need for life and godliness [see note
2 Peter 1:3].
We sin against Him when we take His gifts and prostitute them to serve
purposes other than His. Our beauty, fame, fortune, skills are all His
gracious gifts to us. When we use them selfishly to attract other people
whose favors we desire, we sin. When we use them to buy protection from
other powers, we sin. When we use them to pay homage to anyone or thing
besides God, we sin just as surely as did Israel in the Old Testament.)
The Psalmist
reminds that we are to...
Do homage to the Son, lest He become
angry, and you perish in the way,for His wrath may soon be kindled. How
blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Ps 2:12)
and you poured out your harlotries
on every passer-by who might be willing
On every passer-by - The
Amplified version explains this as..."as you worshiped the idols of every
nation which prevailed over you".
Years prior to Ezekiel's words, Moses
had written prophetically of Israel's behavior declaring...
But Jeshurun ("the upright one", used
ironically here as a reference to unrighteous Israel!) grew fat and kicked--
You are grown fat, thick, and sleek-- Then he forsook God who made him, and
scorned the Rock of his salvation. 16 "They made Him jealous with strange
gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. 17 "They sacrificed to
demons (see Ps 106:37, 1Cor 10:20) who were not God, to gods whom they have
not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. 18
"You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you
birth. (Deut 32:15-18) (Comment: Notice in verse 18 God is described
figuratively as both father - begot you - and mother - gave birth
to you -- which makes the Chosen nation of Israel's flagrant spiritual
adultery all the more reprehensible. Hosea 1-2 is a clear parallel to
Ezekiel 16.)
In Isaiah God
describes Jerusalem declaring
How the faithful city has become a harlot,
she who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, but now
murderers." (Isaiah 1:21)
Feinberg adds
Notice how pride was singled out as the root of Sodom’s sin when her
abominations were traced to their source. God had blessed her abundantly
with fullness of bread (Ge13:10), but she monopolized these blessings for
her own pleasures and basked in prosperous ease. Provision for her own needs
made her insensible to the needs of others; she had no social conscience.
Then she committed the abominations and enormities which are linked
inseparably with her name. God took her away with a final blow when He saw
it " (Feinberg "Ezekiel")
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Ezekiel 16:16
You
took
some of your
clothes,
made for yourself
high
places of
various
colors and
played the
harlot on them, which should
never
come about
nor
happen. (NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Net Bible:
You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places;
you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. |
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And
you took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various
colors, and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor
happen. (Ezek
7:20;
2 Ki 23:7;
2Chr 28:24;
Hos 2:8)
Earlier Ezekiel
had recorded that...
they transformed the beauty of His
ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and
their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing
to them. (see note
Ezekiel 7:20)
After King Josiah
discovered the book of the Law which has been lost in the house of God he
experienced personal revival and he carried out numerous acts to cleanse the
land...
He also broke down the houses of the male
cult prostitutes which were in the house of the LORD, where the women were
weaving hangings for the Asherah. (2Kings 23:7)
High places (01116)
(bamah
which is used literally in
Ezekiel 20:29
Study the uses of bamah in
1 Kings,
2 Kings
Jeremiah
Ezekiel)
were associated with at least six activities--the burning of incense (Jer
48:35),
sacrificing (2Ki
16:4),
the eating of sacrificial meals, praying, prostitution, and child sacrifice
(Jer
7:31
Jer 19:5
Jer 32:35)!
The
high places
consisted of several basic elements: an altar for offering sacrifices
usually built of stone or mud brick, a wooden pole to represent the female
goddess of fertility called Asherah, at least one stone pillar called a
maššebâ to represent the male deity Baal and a smaller incense altar with a
tent for use in eating sacrificial meals, practicing sacred prostitution (1Ki
14:23;
2Ki 21:3),
and storage of cultic vessels.
The sad refrain which is repeated over and over in 2 Kings is
only the high places were not taken away
(click
for all 7 occurrences of this phrase in OT) so that these sites
of spiritual harlotry and spiritual adultery continued to be a snare for
Israel all her days until God says here in Ezekiel in essence "enough is
enough".
If Israel and Judah would not destroy the high places, the high places would
destroy them and God Himself would destroy the high places!
During the period of the Judges the Israelites adopted the Canaanite custom
of offering sacrifices at
high places.
These were on hilltops and other elevations. The pagan Canaanites felt that
the closer they got to heaven the more likely was the possibility that their
prayers and offerings would reach their gods. Offering sacrifices at places
other than the tabernacle was prohibited in the Law (Lev
17:3
17:4).
Nevertheless this practice was commonly observed in Israel at this time,
even by Solomon. Even Solomon fell prey to these evil places for Scripture
records that
Now Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David,
EXCEPT
he sacrificed and burned incense on the
high places.
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the
great high place;
(the tabernacle was there so this was not inappropriate but note the
preceding verse = "high places" plural!) Solomon offered a thousand burnt
offerings on that altar." (1Ki
3:3
3:4)
This weak point of Solomon's for
high
places
was exploited (and exploded) in
1Kings 11
for
King Solomon loved many foreign women...from the nations concerning which
the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them,
neither shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart
away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love...and his wives
turned his heart away...after other gods and his heart was not wholly
devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been for
Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom
the detestable idol of the Ammonites and Solomon did what was evil in the
sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father
had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of
Moab (associated with sacrifice of children as a burnt offering!), on the
mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol
of the sons of Ammon (also associated with sacrifice of children). (1Ki
11:7)
Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and
sacrificed to their gods. Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his
heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to
him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not
go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded." (1Kings
11:1-10).
Then some 300 years later (ca 621BC) godly King Josiah's reform (which
obviously was only transient as shown by resurgence of high places within
less than 30 years) after reading the book of the Law included the
defilement of
the high places
which were before (east of) Jerusalem, which were on the right of (south of)
the mount of destruction (of corruption ~ the Mt of Olives!) which
Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the
Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom (Molech)
the abomination of the sons of Ammon." (2Ki
23:13)
During the reign of Jeroboam, the wicked king of the northern kingdom of
Israel, was offering incense at the altar in Bethel and God sent His man
from Judah to denounce the idolatrous altar, predicting that a king named
Josiah would arise in Judah and would burn the idolatrous priests on the
altar. The man of God cried out
against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus
says the LORD, 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by
name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the
high
places
who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'"
(1Ki
13:2)
Over 300 years later Josiah fulfilled this prophecy to the letter, coming to
the altar that was at Bethel and the
high place
which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that
altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones,
ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. Now when Josiah turned, he saw
the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones
from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according
to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed
these things." (2Ki
23:15-16)
Whose life are you emulating...King Solomon or King Josiah?
Do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and
do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of
unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not
be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace." (see
notes
Romans 6:12;
6:13;
6:14)
What are the
high places
in your life that you have refused to destroy because you like the wisest
man that ever lived, King Solomon, have made them an "exception clause" and
you have underestimated the deceptive power of sin (see note
Hebrews 3:13).
Be assured that God reads the "fine print" and He desires that we be wholly
holy as He is holy.
Remember
that...
Sin...
Will take you farther than you ever meant to stray
Keep you longer than you ever meant to stay &
Cost you more than you ever thought you'd have to pay!
|
|
Ezekiel
16:17 You also
took your
beautiful
jewels made of My
gold and of My
silver,
which I had
given you, and
made for yourself
male
images that you might
play the
harlot with them.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
Amplified: You did also
take your fair jewels and beautiful vessels of My gold and My silver which I
had given you and made for yourself images of men, and you played the harlot
with them (Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
NLT: You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given
you and made statues of men and worshiped them, which is adultery against
me. (NLT
- Tyndale House) |
|
You
also took your beautiful jewels...and made...images (Ezekiel
7:19;
23:14-21;
Ex 32:1-4;
Hos 2:13;
10:1)
(Isa 44:19,20;
57:7,8;
Jer 2:27,28;
3:9)
In a similar passage
in Hosea we read...
For she does not know that it was I who
gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver
and gold, Which they used for Baal. (Hosea 2:8)
Might play the
harlot with them (the images of men) -
Cooper observes
that...
It was wickedly ironic that the people
used God’s gifts to build shrines and make idols of gods that were
nonexistent. They took fine jewelry and constructed male idols and engaged
in ritual sex as part of the fertility cult (Cooper, L. E. Vol. 17:
Ezekiel The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers)
Constable
agrees that this phrase is to be taken literally writing that...
The people evidently
even made phallic images out of God’s gifts with which they engaged in sex (Expository Notes in Pdf format)
|
|
Ezekiel
16:18 Then you
took your
embroidered
cloth and
covered them, and
offered My
oil and My
incense
before them.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Then
you took your embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My
incense before them
If you are a man and
married, as God was to Israel, you can understand how flagrant and brazen
were Israel's actions. Surely this speaks of the longsuffering of God to
hold back His hand of wrath in the face of such bold faced actions against
His holiness and His covenant.
|
|
Ezekiel
16:19
Also My
bread
which I
gave you,
fine
flour,
oil and
honey with which I
fed you, you would
offer
before them for a
soothing
aroma; so it
happened,"
declares the
Lord
GOD.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Also My bread
which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it
happened," declares the Lord GOD.
My
bread which I gave you...which I fed you (13;
Dt 32:14-17;
Ho 2:8-13) - God reminds Israel of how He
repeatedly demonstrated His favor upon them.
soothing
aroma - The ultimate perversion of God's gift -- offering it to
idols. There is a touch of sarcasm in the descriptive word "soothing"
(sweet, pleasant, pleasing, delightful). This word was first used in to
describe the offering of Noah after the flood abated...
And the LORD smelled the soothing aroma;
and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on
account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I
will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. (Ge 8:21)
(Comment: That which had been a sweet savor to God now had the stench
of sinful sacrifices!)
|
|
Ezekiel
16:20 Moreover, you
took your
sons and
daughters
whom you had
borne to Me and
sacrificed them to idols to be
devoured. Were your
harlotries
so
small a matter?
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
NLT:
Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and
sacrificed them to your gods. Was it not enough that you should be a
prostitute? (NLT
- Tyndale House) |
|
Moreover
you took your sons and daughters
whom you had borne to Me and you
sacrificed them to idols
to
be devoured
(Ezek
16:21;
23:4;
Ge 17:7;
Ex 13:2,12;
Dt 29:11,12)
(Ezekiel
20:26,31;
23:37,39;
2 Ki 16:3;
2Chr 33:6;
Ps 106:37,38;
Isa 57:5;
Jer 7:31;
32:35;
Micah 6:7) (Ezekiel
8:17;
Jer 2:34,35)
Had borne to Me
- Notice who the children really belonged to! They took what belonged to God
and offered them up as human sacrifices! This is God's chosen people
beloved. Be careful when you begin to drift into the path of sin for
it will take you a far greater distance into the darkness than you would
have ever dreamed possible!
This horrible sin is
repeated alluded to in Ezekiel (Ezekiel
20:26,31;
23:37,39)
God had specifically
and emphatically forbidden this practice Moses recording...
You shall not behave thus toward the LORD
your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for
their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their
gods. (Deut 12:31)
There shall not be found among you anyone
who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses
divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a
sorcerer (Deut 18:10)
Jeremiah
addresses this heinous sin...
And they have built the high places of
Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and
their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come
into My mind. (Jer 7:31)
And they built the high places of Baal
that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters
to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had
it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to
sin. (Jer 32:35)
Is "Christian"
America guilty of a similar evil today in regard to legalization of
abortion? You be the judge. And as you contemplate your answer, think too
about to Whom these little creations had been borne?
Were your harlotries so small a
matter? Clearly a rhetorical question -- For obviously their
harlotries were quite the opposite of a "small matter" with God! |
|
Ezekiel
16:21
You
slaughtered My
children and
offered them up to idols by causing them to
pass
through the fire. (NASB:
Lockman) |
|
You
slaughtered My children, and offered them up to idols
causing them to pass through the
fire
(Ps 106:37)
(Lev 18:21;
20:1-5;
Dt18:10;
2Ki17:17;
21:6;
23:10)
The Amplified
Version renders this verse as a question that began at the end of verse
20...
20 Were your harlotries too little, 21
That you have slain My children and delivered them up, in setting them apart
and causing them to pass through the fire for [your idols]?
Today's English
Version is similar...
20 Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful
to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols?
My children -
God is the Creator and ultimately they were His children that were being
killed and burned.
The Psalmist
records that...
They even sacrificed their sons and their
daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons
and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the
land was polluted (defiled, corrupted, profaned) with the blood. (Psalm
106:37-38)
To pass through the
fire - Moses records...
Neither shall you give any of your
offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your
God; I am the LORD. (Lev 18;21) |
|
Ezekiel
16:22
Besides
all your
abominations and
harlotries you did not
remember the
days of your
youth, when you were
naked and
bare and
squirming in your
blood. (NASB:
Lockman) |
|
And
besides all your abominations and harlotries you did not remember the days
of your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood. (Ezekiel
16:3-7,43,60-63;
Jer 2:2;
Hos 2:3;
11:1)
All your
abominations - It is notable that of the 117 uses of abominations
(tow'ebah),
41 of the uses (click
for these verses) are in
Ezekiel, by far the greatest frequency in the entire Old Testament!
You did not
remember the days of your youth - God had preserved Jacob's family
through the years of severe family by taking them to Egypt where He
prospered them until they became a threat to the new pharaoh. And then God
delivered them from bondage and cared for them in the frightening
wilderness, providing for their every need. And yet Israel had grown fat and
forgetful. What were those first days like when you came to Christ and
received His gift of salvation? What has happened over the years since that
time? Have you failed to remember the joy and amazement that He choose to
save a wretch such as you? Have you become complacent and comfortable in
your Christianity, going through the motions but without the emotion and
profound sense of gratitude you experienced when He first saved you out of
the miry clay? Take some time to remember, so that you don't fall into the
trap of forgetfulness which breeds ingratitude at best and can lead to
flagrant sin at worst.
Cooper remarks
that....
The basic cause behind all the evil
excesses presented in Ezekiel 16:22 was neglect of the covenant. They did
not remember the days of their youth. They forgot God in the sense that
he made no difference in their daily lives. They were practical atheists,
professing to worship Yahweh along with other gods but failing to believe
and obey his word. (Cooper, L. E. Vol. 17: Ezekiel The New American
Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers)
|
|
Ezekiel
16:24 that you
built yourself a
shrine and
made yourself a
high
place in
every
square.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
Amplified: You have built
also for yourself a vaulted chamber (brothel) and have made a high place [of
idol worship] in every street.
Brenton: that thou didst build thyself a house of fornication, and didst
make thyself a public place in every street; (English translation of the
Greek
Septuagint LXX)
Darby: that thou didst also build unto thee a place of
debauchery, and didst make thee a high place in every street:
NIV: you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every
public square.
NKJV: that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high
place for yourself in every street.
TEV: by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and
practice prostitution. |
|
that you built
yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every square (Ezek
16:31,39;
20:28,29;
2 Ki 21:3-7;
23:5-7,11,12;
2 Chr 33:3-7) (Lev 26:30;
Ps 78:58;
Isa 57:5,7;
Jer 2:20;
3:2;
17:3)
Adam Clarke
writes that the Hebrew word for shrine refers to a...
brothel;
Septuagint (LXX).
So my old Masoretic (text) Bible, a bordel (Ed note = brothel) house...
Diodati translates, Tu hai edificato un bordello, "Thou hast built a
brothel." Houses of this kind were of a very ancient date. (Clarke's
Commentary: Ezekiel)
Recall that a
brothel is a house or other place where men pay to have sexual
intercourse with prostitutes.
A number of the
translations (see several recorded above) pick up this same idea in
translating (or paraphrasing) the Hebrew as a brothel or house of
prostitution.
The TWOT
observes that...
Three times in Ezekiel 16:24,
16:31,
16:39,
Judah is condemned for building for herself, in the fashion of a harlot, a
“vaulted chamber” (Hebrew = gab) (KJV “eminent place”) and a lofty place
(rāmâ = high place). This (referring to the Hebrew word "gab") may be a
reference to an artificially constructed hill on which illegal cultic acts
were performed (perhaps a word play between rāmâ and bāmâ [bama = another
word translated high place]). Thus the
LXX
translates gab here as oikēma
pornikon “brothels.” (brothel = a house or other place where men
pay to have sexual intercourse with prostitutes) | |
